9 under the radar trade targets the Mets should pursue

The Mets are in the market for an outfielder, and the Reds have more than they can use. The two teams line up well for a potential trade.

One of their outfielders who may be available this winter is Aristides Aquino. Aquino burst onto the scene in 2019, hitting 19 homers in just 56 games. He slugged .576 and had an OPS of .891. Playing time has been hard to come by since then, considering the Reds had Tyler Naquin, Jesse Winker, and Nick Castellanos playing everyday. Castellanos is a free agent this winter, but they also have Nick Senzel and Shogo Akiyama ready to step in.

Aquino is known for that power bat. This season, he hit 10 homers and six doubles in 84 games, slugging .408. His Baseball Savant metrics showed that he could’ve been better, with an expected slugging of .431, a barrel rate of 14.9, and a hard hit rate of 37.3. While he didn’t have enough of a sample size to register percentile rankings, those are good numbers.

Aquino played all three outfield positions over the last two seasons. He is most suited for right field because he has a cannon of an arm, but he also has the speed and range to play center field. 

Aquino has four years of control, making him an attractive option as well as a potentially expensive one. This is probably a long shot because of that, but Aquino would be a great fit for the Mets.